This invention relates to a process for setting hair in a desired configuration, and more particularly to hair setting processes using an aqueous, alcoholic or aqueous-alcoholic solution of a sulfonated polymer which serves as a hair fixative.
A common type of hair setting preparation comprises an aqueous or aqueous-alcoholic lotion or gel containing a film forming material which is applied to the hair, which is then fixed in the desired configuration and allowed to dry. The film forming material or fixative is deposited on the individual hair filaments in the form of a microscopically thin layer which encases the hair filaments and by reason of its resistance to deformation tends to keep the hair in the configuration in which it has been set. Likewise, at places where the hair filaments cross or touch one another, the dried fixative acts as an adhesive and binds the hair filaments together, thus helping to hold the proper set. Furthermore, the presence of the fixative film on the hair also imparts desirable properties such as body and smoothness.
In order to be effective, the film forming ingredients of a hair setting composition must meet a number of rigid requirements. Thus, the films derived from these ingredients should be flexible and yet they should possess strength and elasticity; they should display good adhesion to hair so as to avoid dusting or flaking off with the passage of time or when the hair is subjected to stresses; they should not interfere with the combing and brushing of the hair; they should remain free of tackiness or gumminess under humid conditions; they should be clear, transparent, and glossy, and maintain their clarity on aging; they should maintain good antistatic properties; and, they should be easily removable by washing with water and either a soap or shampoo.
Natural gums, such as quince-seed and karaya gums, have been used as fixatives in hair setting lotions, but because of the disadvantages associated with such gums, e.g., variability from lot to lot, they have been generally replaced by synthetic film-forming materials. Thus, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinylpyrrolidone, cellulose ethers such as methyl cellulose, and copolymers of vinyl-pyrrolidone and vinyl acetate, have been used as fixatives in hair setting lotions and gels.